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Thursday, June 14, 2012

GLS sites to boost affordable housing: experts

Following the announcement of the 2H2012 Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme yesterday, it appears that the government is committed to satisfy demand for more affordable private homes.

The majority of sites in the confirmed list are located in the Outside Central Region (OCR) and Rest of Central Region (RCR), which include private and executive condominium (EC) sites.

“As expected, the government is unlikely to relent on the continued injection of land for private residential housing - given the strong demand from home buyers and the continued active participation of developers in land tenders, in which bids are generally still bullish,” said Chia Siew Chuin, Director of Research & Advisory at Colliers International.

Six of the 13 residential sites under the confirmed list (one of which is a mixed-use site) have been allocated for EC developments which could yield around 3,100 units. This is slightly more than the 2,900 EC units or five sites for 1H2012.

Joseph Tan, Executive Director at CBRE, said there has been “a steady increase in EC supply under the confirmed list since H2 2011, signifying the government's intention to provide more homes for the sandwich class”. He added that providing more EC sites could push prices down.

Meanwhile, two other sites are up for sale – a mixed-use residential site at Yishun Ring Road and a private housing site along Commonwealth Avenue. According to Lee Sze Teck, Senior Manager of DWG's Research and Consultancy Division, developers are expected to battle over both sites.